Half of nation's homeless are in California

FPI / January 14, 2020

Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place (such a lovely place)
…
Last thing I remember, I was Running for the door I had to find the passage back to the place I was before
'Relax' said the night man, 'We are programmed to receive.
You can check out any time you like, But you can never leave!'
[Eagles - Songwriters: Glenn Lewis Frey / Don Felder / Donald Hugh Henley Hotel California lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, BMG Rights Management]

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Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) data for 2018 and 2019 shows a decrease in the number of homeless in most states, but a 16 percent increase in homelessness in California.

In fact, California accounted for most of the 3 percent national increase in homelessness, HUD reported.

In its Jan. 14 homelessness report, HUD said it counted 568,000 people without homes in the United States. HUD bases the numbers on a one-night national count of homeless people.

"California is at a crisis level and needs to be addressed by local and state leaders with crisis-like urgency,” HUD Secretary Ben Carson said. “Addressing these challenges will require a broader, community-wide response that engages every level of government to compassionately house our most vulnerable fellow citizens."

President Donald Trump has criticized state leaders in California for their handling of the crisis. California, in turn, blamed Trump for the crisis, but HUD recently pushed back, claiming that the state is sitting on $450 million in federal aid and doing nothing to slash regulations that have driven up the price of a single low-income unit to $750,000, the Washington Examiner reported on Tuesday.

Throughout the HUD report, California’s woes were highlighted:

• In terms of absolute numbers, California has more than half of all unsheltered homeless people in the country (53% or 108,432), with nearly nine times as many unsheltered homeless as the state with the next highest number, Florida (6% or 12,476), despite California’s population being only twice that of Florida.
• An increase in the number of individuals experiencing homelessness, specifically unsheltered individuals, drove the national increase in all people experiencing homelessness. The number of unsheltered individuals in California rose 21 percent between 2018 and 2019, an increase of more than 18,000 people.
• Nearly half of all people experiencing homelessness in the country were in three states: California (27% or 151,278 people); New York (16% or 92,091 people); and Florida (5% or 28,328 people).
• California and New York had the largest numbers of people experiencing homelessness and the highest rates of homelessness, at 38 and 46 people per 10,000, respectively.
• California also had the highest percentage of all people experiencing homelessness staying in unsheltered locations (72%).

The HUD report found that homelessness among veterans, youths, and families is down. For veterans, it’s down 40 percent over the last 10 years.

Free Press International